Arizona men’s basketball will be without one of its top players to start the 2017 season. Sophomore guard Rawle Alkins suffered a broken foot while participating in voluntary activities with teammates Tuesday afternoon and will be out for eight to 12 weeks, according to an Arizona Athletics press release.
The release also stated that Alkins underwent successful surgery on Wednesday to repair a fractured bone in his right foot.
Less than 24 hours after assistant coach Emanuel “Book” Richardson was arrested by the FBI in a corruption and bribery scheme, Alkins suffered the foot injury that will sideline him for the beginning of the year.
If the eight to 12 week timeline is correct, Alkins should be back before the team begins Pac-12 Conference play at the end of December.
Alkins is a piece that will be critical to the Wildcats’ success this season and his return to school is one of the main reasons that Arizona has a chance to be ranked as the No.1 team in the NCAA entering the preseason.
But with the Brooklyn, N.Y. native now out for an extended period of time, those chances of UA being preseason favorites likely diminish.
In his first year at Arizona, Alkins never missed a game and even played through a dislocated finger against Saint Mary’s in the NCAA Tournament. The 6-foot-5 guard tied for third on the team with an average of 10.9 points per game and also had 4.9 rebounds per game in the 2016-17 season.
With the “Book” Richardson arrest and now the Alkins injury, the hits keep on coming to Arizona basketball.
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